Acceptable Risk
by EldritchSandwich
Summary: Change of Heart Series 12. When he comes back, Odd doesn't exactly receive a warm welcome. The Gang will have to put their differences aside when a new problem rears its head on Lyoko...


The Prinicipal shook his head. Odd shifted nervously in his seat. The aging man sighed. "Odd, this isn't just some case of Jim catching you at playing a practical joke. You were gone for three weeks. No one knew where you were—your grandmother was worried sick."

Odd looked down at the base of the Principal's desk. "I know, sir."

"_Three weeks_, Odd. That's grounds for expulsion, you know that." Odd nodded. "However..." Odd raised his eyes to the Principal's. "...I realize how close you were to Ana. Her...passing must have had a very profound effect on you. Even more than for the rest of us." He pushed aside the stack of papers that he'd been reviewing and looked down into Odd's eyes. "For that reason, I'm willing to overlook this, provided you start seeing our counselor on a regular basis to work out your grief."

Odd straightened in his seat. "Th...thank you, sir."

"On this occasion only. If anything of this magnitude ever happens again, I won't be so lenient."

"It won't, sir. I...I just needed some time to work things out."

"Well, I hope you've done so. You're already substantially behind in your classes."

"Yes, sir." Odd pushed himself out of the chair, his shoulders still shaking slightly, in case the Principal's good mood should evaporate. Odd was almost to the door when the Principal stood up.

"Oh, Odd?"

Odd stopped and rotated uneasily. "Sir?"

"If you want my advice, try to talk to your friends about this as well. There's no better way to deal with something like this."

Odd nodded. "Thank you." He slipped silently through the door.

Ulrich's face met him on the other side. "Are you in trouble?"

Odd avoided the taller boy's eyes. "He wants me to see the counselor. But, I didn't get expelled."

"Good." Odd tried to move down the hall toward the classrooms, but Ulrich shifted to block his path. "Now, do you want to tell me what exactly you were thinking?"

Odd pushed past Ulrich's shoulder. "No, not really." He spun back as Ulrich's hand clamped around his arm.

"Let me rephrase that in the form of a threat."

Odd tugged his bicep out of Ulrich's grasp. "In case you couldn't tell, _friend_, I had some things I needed to work through."

"Don't give me that. I've had enough issues to last my whole life. When I needed time to think, I didn't bail on the people who depend on me."

"Yeah, well I'm not you. And I don't need to feel any more guilty than I already do, thank you very much."

Ulrich sighed. "Fine, I don't know what you're going through. None of us do. And we won't until you stop acting the hurt puppy and let yourself heal."

Odd chuckled. "Oh, yeah, work through my grief. You know, I'm getting a little tired of hearing that." The blond leaned in close to punctuate his point. "I should have been there to protect her. Sharing my feelings won't make that any less true."

Ulrich shook his head sadly. "That's not the point."

"Forget it, man. I'm out of here." Odd stopped in mid-step as Ulrich's cell phone started humming.

"Jeremie? Oh, you've got to be kidding. Fine, we'll be right there."

Odd edged his face back to Ulrich. "Xana?"

"Looks like you got back just in time."

You shouldn't be so hard on him."

Jeremie turned toward the holomap. "He abandoned us. I still don't know what the long term effects of the others having to pick up his slack will be."

"I understand that, Jeremie, it's just..."

Jeremie turned back to the monitor. "What is it, Aelita?"

The virtual girl shook her head. "I don't know. I just have this feeling. Like...I know what he's been through."

"If he wants our trust again, he's going to have to earn it." Jeremie turned to the communications window on the main screen. "What's keeping them?"

As if on cue, Yumi's cell window opened on the monitor. "Jeremie? We're on our way down."

Jeremie slipped into the chair and began warming up the scanner program. "The activated Tower's in the forest. Xana's trying to gain control of the city's power distribution computers—you haver to hurry!"

Yumi, Sissi, and Odd climbed into the scanners first. As Jeremie entered their transfer codes, Ulrich's voice drifted through the speakers. "Have you given any thought to what we should do about Odd?"

Jeremie shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, we're doing it right now." Ulrich sighed and stepped into the now vacant scanner. "Transfer—Ulrich. Scanner—Ulrich. Virtualization."

Ulrich flipped into place in the middle of his friends. "Where's Aelita?"

"Here!" The group turned around to see the pink-haired girl dodge away from a crab's laser.

Yumi grunted and threw out her fan, the razor edge splitting the monster down the middle. Ulrich stepped protectively in front of Aelita as another crab rushed forward. Odd jumped up against a tree—as he flipped off, he delivered two arrows to the robot's target. After he landed, Sissi nudged him playfully with her elbow. "Just like old times, huh?"

Ulrich motioned the group forward, down the verdant bridge from which the monsters had come.

"Come on, guys, Xana's already started blacking out sensitive areas. The Tower's not too far from your current position."

Sissi shook her head as Odd pulled her up from the ground, taking cover behind a tree. The 'tank closed before Yumi's fan could penetrate it, and before the weapon could return the other sphere had shattered what remained of her lifepoints. Ulrich dove around a rock, signalling for Odd and Sissi to lay down cover fire.

As the samurai rushed forward, a tumult of arrows and shuriken tried to keep the megatanks from firing. After his sword pierced the first construct, Ulrich was caught off guard as the second fired into his back. The warrior melted to pixels as he careened over the edge of the platform. A well-placed shuriken sent the 'tank after him, and Odd gently lifted Aelita from behind her self-made stone shield. The three set off at a jog.

"I'm not mad at you, Odd." Odd's eyes turned toward Sissi, though his head kept him moving forward. "I just want you to know that. I understand what happened."

Odd shook his head. "I wish you could."

Before Sissi could respond, the force of the hornet's blast against her back sent her diving forward. Odd spun around to destroy the monster as Sissi's body faded. "Aelita, get to the Tower. There are probably more on the way."

Sissi braced herself for the bright light of re-entry. But it didn't come. She could hear the doors open, and thought she could make out the sound of voices. "Ulrich? Yumi?"

Aelita slipped into the Tower as Odd destroyed the last pursuing hornet.

"**Ulrich! Yumi?**" Sissi felt a hand on her shoulder.

Yumi looked over at Ulrich, concern on her face. "Sissi, I'm right here. What's wrong?"

"Yumi, I...I can't see!"

"Oh, Odd?"

Odd spun around quickly. "Sir?"

"If you want my advice, try to talk to your friends about this as well. There's no better way to deal with something like this."

Odd nodded. "Yes sir, maybe you're right." He slipped through the door and turned toward Jeremie, waiting on the other side. "How is she?"

Jeremie glanced down at the tile. "You should go see her."

Odd nodded and stepped off toward the dormitory stairs.

Yumi lifted the pencil between her fingers, holding it steadily in front of Sissi's face. "Tell me when you see something, okay?"

Sissi gulped and nodded. Yumi began pushing the bright red pencil closer to Sissi's face, slowly. "There. I can see...I don't know, a shape. A line, I guess." Yumi nodded, and sighed to herself. The pencil was less than three inches from Sissi's face.

"all right, just relax." Yumi looked up as the door opened. She smiled wearily. "Odd's here."

Yumi stood to meet him as he pushed his head through the door. She looked worried—not annoyed, like usual—scared. Odd hated that look. It always meant something very, profoundly bad had happened. "I'm afraid to ask..."

"She...she's not blind." Yumi guided him over to the computer desk, setting the pencil down. "But, her vision's so blurred she can only even make out basic shapes a few inches in front of her face. It might wear off, but I really don't know."

"How did this happen?"

Yumi shrugged, glancing over at the helpless girl curled up on her bed, clutching her knees tightly to her chest. "I'm no expert, but...we all have our own physical side effect when we come back from Lyoko, right? You get the wind knocked out of you, I feel like I need about eight hours sleep...and Sissi's vision gets blurry for a while."

"You...you think going to Lyoko did this?"

Yumi sighed. "Maybe it's just a natural side effect of the scanner technology. Jeremie's going to look into it today. If it is...this could be very dangerous."

Odd's gaze slowly turned to Sissi. She wasn't crying, or shooting her eyes around the room in panic...she was just staring off into nothing. "So if this is a result of going to Lyoko, why Sissi? We've all been going to Lyoko much longer than she has, so why wouldn't something like this happen to one of us first?"

"Why? **I'll tell you why.**"

As Ulrich shut the door behind him, Yumi peeled off to Sissi's side. "Why don't we go get something to eat? It's time for breakfast." As she helped Sissi to her feet and shut the door behind them, Ulrich edged closer to Odd, almost bending him back over the desk.

"When you left, Xana didn't stop trying. If anything, the attacks came more and more frequently. We all had to go in more often. And when we needed someone to pick up the slack, Sissi..." Ulrich pulled back, shaking his head. "She thought it was her fault. That you left. So to make up for it, she started to take double shifts. Go to Lyoko twice in one day. Normally, we go to Lyoko, what, eight times a month, max? In the three weeks you were gone, Sissi made nineteen round trips."

Odd collapsed back against the weight of the desk. "I...I didn't know."

Ulrich shook his head, backing toward the door. "There's a lot you don't know. A lot you missed." Ulrich threw open the door almost maliciously. He didn't look back. "Class starts in ten minutes."

Jeremie slid onto the lunch table bench sullenly. Yumi looked up from her tray. "Jeremie?"

"I just got back from the factory. It's pretty obvious how this happened."

Ulrich shook his head. Yumi sighed. "So what does this mean for the rest of us?"

"I...I don't know. I think it was the fact she went in so often that set it off, but...it could just be a matter of time."

In the silence, Yumi tried to catch Ulrich's eyes. "Ulrich." His gaze darted up. "It isn't his fault. None of us could have imagined anything like this happening."

"That's supposed to make it better?"

"Ulrich...he was in pain. I hope none of us ever have to feel the kind of grief he did."

Ulrich pushed himself up from the table. "Well, I guess Odd and I have something in common now." He tossed his empty lunch tray onto the collection table. "We're both getting really tired of hearing about how much everyone feels for him."

Jeremie shook his head as Ulrich walked off. "Where is he now?"

Yumi started picking at her food. "He's upstairs with Sissi."

Jeremie nodded. "Good. They have a few things they need to work out."

Yumi paused, then set down her fork. "I'm going to try to catch up to Ulrich."

As she picked herself up, Jeremie sighed. "He does have a point, you know. She took on a lot of extra responsibility on herself when he left."

"You know what? The way I see it, this isn't going to get any better until _everyone_ involved stops feeling sorry for himself."

Jeremie shook his head as the door swung back and forth behind her. He pulled out his laptop and flipped it on. He still had time to talk to Aelita before afternoon classes.

Neither of them had said anything for the past fifteen minutes. Odd pulled Sissi's shoulder closer, and she tucked her head under his. He opened his mouth, then thought better of it. Sissi stirred. "What is it, Odd?"

"I...I was just going to ask if I missed anything while I was gone, but it seems a little...petty, I guess."

"No, I think it's important. You're still part of the group."

"I think Ulrich might disagree with you about that right now."

Sissi snuggled closer to his chest. "And no, you didn't miss much. I put up a new poster." Odd looked up at the wall, at the gaudy flyer for some American pop group he wouldn't listen to on a bet. "And Jim got hit in the head with a tennis ball."

Odd clucked his tongue and smiled. "Oh, now I'm sorry I left." Sissi chuckled. "I am sorry."

Sissi sighed and sat up. "I'm not going to keep telling you that it's not your fault much longer."

"I just...I wish there was something I could do to make it up to everyone."

Sissi grinned. "Well, I know breakfast in bed for a month would buy my vote." Odd laughed, then jumped as Jeremie's computer booted up on its own. "Oh, that's also new. Jeremie set up a remote so Aelita could activate his computer when he's not here."

Odd squeezed her shoulder and swayed toward the desk. "Aelita?"

"Odd. It's good to see you."

"What is it?"

"Jeremie tried to call you. We've spotted an activated Tower."

"all right, I'll be right there." He stepped to the door, casting one last glance at Sissi.

"I'll be fine. And Odd..." He paused, one foot out of the door. "It's not your fault."

He nodded. "I know."

"That was the last time."

"Then I'll try to remember it."

"You should cut him a break, you know."

Ulrich broke off from Yumi to stare at the holomap. "That seems to be the popular sentiment these days."

"Why don't you just give him a chance, huh? None of us knows what he went through."

Ulrich spun around. "And he doesn't know what we went through."

Jeremie cleared his throat softly. "The lift's on its way down." All eyes turned to the door, then waited. Jeremie glanced at the screen. "He's going straight to the scanner room." He pressed the intercomm button. "Odd, we'd like to talk to you up here before we start."

Odd was already striding through the opening doors. "No. Send me in."

Yumi leaned into Jeremie's headset. "Odd, wait a minute. We don't have a plan of attack yet. At least wait until we're ready."

"You don't have to be ready. I'm going alone."

"What?" Yumi turned to Jeremie. "What does he think he's doing?"

Odd ducked into the scanner. "You said it, Ulrich. You've all been taking extra shifts lately. Do you really think it's safe for anyone but me to go?"

Jeremie looked up into Yumi's eyes. "He is right. Sissi might have taken most of the brunt, but you two are still at risk."

Yumi pushed back from the console. "No way. I'm willing to take that risk."

"I'm not." Odd was straight against the back of the scanner.

Jeremie shook his head, then turned slowly to the boy standing by the map. "Ulrich? You've been pretty quiet so far."

Ulrich sighed. Odd knew the feeling better than Ulrich would be willing to concede. "Ulrich, you said if I wanted your trust again, I'd have to earn it." Ulrich nodded.

Jeremie sighed. "All right. I'm sending you to the desert. It looks like a lot of resistance."

"I can handle it."

Jeremie turned his head, typing in the manual initialization codes from memory. "Yumi...why don't you go see to Sissi? She deserves to know what's happening."

The tall girl shook her head as she pressed the summons for the elevator.

"Virtualization."

Odd's head exploded with the vivid colors of Lyoko. He was already moving before he hit the ground, Aelita running to catch up. The first Roach that got in his way was plowed over the side of the stone bridge as he galloped on. "Odd, you're taking damage! You have seventy lifepoints left."

Odd grunted as he elbowed a crab, pushing the skittering monstrosity back to the deep fall to the Digital Void. When he heard the sounds of buzzing wings he spun around on the ball of his foot, arrowheads splaying through Hornet wings and target eyes. The lasers that plincked against his body were ignored as the second crab spun around, the momentum of the arrowhead carrying its disintegrating exoskeleton off balance.

"Odd, you've only got twenty-" The last bolt in his back sent Odd tumbling over the edge, digital fragments scattering down toward the void. As the scanner hissed open, Odd gasped for breath, but forced himself to stand upright.

"Again!"

"What?"

"Send me back! Aelita's still in danger."

"Odd, at least give yourself a few seconds to recover-"

"**No!**"

Jeremie grimaced as he typed in the codes for the second time. "This is so stupid. Who's he trying to impress?"

Ulrich almost smiled. "_Himself._"

Jeremie sighed. "Virtualization."

Odd squinted as the bright white light filled his eyes. His knees collapsed under him, spasms wracking his body as he struggled to take another breath. "Again."

"No!"

"Aelita's in trouble."

"You're in trouble!"

"Jeremie, I can't breathe. There I don't need to."

Ulrich shoved off from the console. "I'm going down."

Jeremie buried his head in his hands. "Great, then we can have three fighters out of commission."

"He's doing this because of me, Jeremie! I can handle it."

Jeremie sprang up from the chair. "Oh, yeah, you're both handling this great. Odd's got a death wish and now you're feeling guilty."

"Don't you dare, Jeremie, I'm not going to let you-"

"**Shut up.**" Sissi held Yumi's arm as they stepped through the lift door. "Both of you. This isn't helping. I don't blame Odd. I don't blame anyone. It was my choice. Just like it's his." Yumi guided her over to the console and Jeremie's discarded headset. "You don't get to decide how he feels, one way or the other." Sissi groped for the microphone, uneasily slipping it over her head. "Odd, can you hear me?"

The scanner room was wavering in front of his eyes. "Si...Sissi?"

"Odd, are you strong enough to go back?"

"I'll be fine...as long as...I don't have...to...breathe..."

Sissi turned on her heel, somehow meeting Jeremie's eyes. "You—send him in." Her head turned to Ulrich—she could feel him edging toward the elevator. "You—sit down and shut up."

Yumi smiled. She'd never looked more grown up.

Jeremie shook his head but, casting a glance at Sissi, then at the red blips surrounding Aelita's hiding place, slunk back to the terminal. "Transfer—Odd. Scanner-"

Yumi's hand brushed Sissi's. The girl turned from staring blankly past the holomap. "What is it?"

Yumi shrugged. "I'm proud of you."

Sissi's eyebrows wrinkled. "For what?"

"For everything."

"Virtualization."

The pain and tightness melted away, and spiraled through the air, arrows cutting through three crabs before he even hit the ground. He gestured to Aelita. "Let's go."

Jeremie eyed the leftmost monitor. "Odd...based on Sissi's results, I'm afraid being devirtualized one more time could have some very serious consequences."

"That won't be a problem."

Jeremie's gaze turned to Sissi. "You should say something to him."

Sissi stepped toward the mic, Yumi's arm prompting her. "Odd, can you hear me?"

An arrowhead hit the block at an angle, spinning its chasis around before it evaporated. "I'm here."

"Odd, I..." She chuckled to herself. "I never did thank you for saving my life."

Odd scoffed as he pushed Aelita behind a rock. "Yeah, some favor I did you." He hit another monster and ushered Aelita closer to the looming Tower.

"I wish you could see yourself like I do, Odd."

Aelita dove for the Tower, Odd following her inside to avoid the growing horde of monsters.

...AELITA...

"And how exactly do you see me?"

Yumi shot Ulrich a knowing glance. He almost smiled.

...CODE...

...LYOKO...

"Ask me again some time."

"Return to the past, now!"

"Oh, Odd?"

Odd sighed and spun around, still backing toward the door. "I know, sir, I should talk this out with my friends. There's no other way I'm going to work through it."

The Principal tilted his glasses down. "Uh...yes. Quite right."

Odd stepped back through the door and found Sissi waiting for him. He half-smiled. "Hey, how are you-"

Sissi's fist slammed in to his bicep.

"**Ow!** What was that for?"

"For being an idiot and risking your life over me."

Odd shook his head and turned to walk down the corridor. "Look, Sissi, I know you don't..." His words faded off as Sissi grabbed his shoulder and spun him back toward her, her lips locking on to his. He tasted her breath—they seemed to be pressed together, silk against silk, for an eternity—then, she pulled away. Odd cleared his throat weakly, standing half-dazed in the middle of the corridor. "And what was that for?"

Sissi grinned. "_For being an idiot and risking your life over me._" Before Odd had a chance to speak, she'd taken his hand and was pulling him out toward the courtyard.

When the pair came into view, Jeremie lifted his arm from the laptop to wave. As they neared the bench, Yumi slapped her hand onto Odd's shoulder. He winced playfully. "Please, why do people keep hitting me today?"

"Because you're such an easy target." Odd looked away to avoid Ulrich's gaze, but the brown-haired boy found his eyes. "Look, man, I..." Ulrich rubbed his neck, as if an appropriate apology might flake off. "You did good." Odd stretched out his hand, and Ulrich's clasped it. "You're not going to run away on us again, are you?"

Odd glanced over at Sissi. She smiled. He smiled. "Count on it."

Yumi lifted herself up from the bench, stretching out her shoulders. "Hey, why we don't we go play some soccer?"

Ulrich shrugged and grabbed Odd's shoulder. Odd chuckled. "Yeah, sure. You could use the exercise."

Ulrich laughed as they walked off toward the field. "Oh, it's good to see that you're back to your old self." He paused, and turned his head. "Sissi, Jeremie? We need a fourth person."

Jeremie smiled and looked back down at the computer. "Nah, I think I'll sit this one out."

"Sissi?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll catch up."

As the other three walked off, Jeremie leaned over toward Sissi. "So, everything's really back to normal? Your vision's fine?"

Off in the distance, Odd and Ulrich were wrestling playfully as they walked. Yumi darted in and out, scolding them with her shoulders puffed out. Sissi could practically hear her grumbling "Cut that out, you two, this isn't the Colosseum!" in her best Jim impersonation. Sissi smiled.

"Yeah. I think I'm finally seeing everything just fine."


End file.
